During their regular meeting last week, Churchill County Commissioners heard a report from Jeremy Drew, a consultant with Resource Concepts Inc. who has worked with the county for the past six years on several natural resource issues including the modernization of the NAS Fallon Range Training Complex and the requested expansion of the Navy footprint in Churchill County and Northern Nevada.
The FRTC was included in the National Defense Authorization Act that passed both the House and the Senate before Christmas and was signed into law by President Biden on December 23. The FRTC will add an extra 558,535 acres to ensure the Navy’s training missions are met.
Implementation of the expansion and modernization is expected to take several years to complete and according to Drew, no training will take place in the expanded areas until the mitigation is completed.
Drew reported to the commissioners that approved along with the FRTC, was the Churchill County Lands Bill that provided several economic development measures and cleaned up several outstanding Wilderness Study Areas. Reviewing issues that had been negotiated with the Navy, he said that relating to Bravo-16, located southwest of Fallon, Sand Canyon and Red Mountain Road will be closed and realigned around the northern boundary of the range. As the Interstate 11 construction continues, it will eventually cut through the Navy land.
Relating to Bravo 17 southeast of the community, the boundary of the range will shift south and east of the Rawhide Road and will include Slate Mountain and the Monte Cristo Range, resulting in loss of recreation, but there is a provision for a 15-day big game hunt. Roadways from other communities will remain available for public access. The Navy relinquished 23 acres around an existing well and corrals that are utilized for livestock grazing. Drew also said that the Navy will relocate State Route 361, the Gabbs Highway, as well as rebuild Lone Tree Road. Additionally, the WSAs have been eliminated.
The Dixie Valley training area will encompass land from the toe of the Stillwaters to the Clan Alpine and from Highway 50 north to the old settlement. There will be no live fire in Dixie Valley, and it will be managed under special rules. The special management area will overlap the east half of Dixie Valley, run south of Highway 50 along Fairview Peak and over to Sand Springs. Over the next two years, a management plan will be developed by the BLM and there will be no formal withdrawal.
Management for Dixie Valley will be under the Federal Lands Management Policy Act and there will be no new mines, however, livestock grazing and geothermal will still be allowed. Additionally, La Plata is not included in the Dixie Valley training area.
Drew said there will be a new National Conservation Area around Grimes Point as well as the Numunaa Nobe NCA located north of Job Peak in the Stillwater Range, while the WSAs at Job Peak and the Stillwaters will be released to multiple use and will be managed under the new Resource Management Plan underway at the BLM.
Under the Lands Bill, the Department of the Interior will convey lands to the county around the city boundaries for public use, the county will convey ground to the DOI in the wildlife refuge north of Stillwater, and the Department of Navy will convey 86 acres at the entrance of Sand Mountain to the DOI. He also said there is a resolution of the checkerboard ground in the northwest of the county, with the DOI being given two years to look through and decide what to keep and then make exchanges and conveyances.
Drew said the Fallon Paiute Shoshone Tribe reservation will expand north and west of the current boundaries by 10,000 acres, and they will receive $20 million for the construction and operations of the Numu Newe Cultural Resource Center to help sustain knowledge, culture, language, and identity associated with aboriginal land and traditional ways of life for the Fallon Paiute Shoshone Tribe and other affected Indian tribes.
Additionally, Drew said the Walker River Paiute Tribe will gain two sections near Hazen called the Fernley East Parcel, and the reservation will expand by 8,000 acres near the northeast corner of Walker Lake as well as receive $20 million.
Private property owners, both grazing and mining, will be compensated, with the Navy working with grazing permittees to find replacement grazing allotments or they will compensate for the grazing rights which is not limited to the remainder of the permit, but as if someone else were going to purchase the value.
Churchill County will receive $20 million for impacts associated with the withdrawal.
The language in the bill also makes Churchill County now eligible for two provisions in the Southern Nevada Public Lands Management Act, clause four which allows for the development of parks, trails, and natural areas, and clause 11 which allows for reimbursement expenses by the DOI for implementation.
Carlene Pacheco, a member of the Fallon Tribe spoke during public comment about the new council at the Tribe. “We’ve had so many different entities coming at the Tribe, Department of Wildlife, the base, I just want you guys to have really good communication with the council. Tribal leaders were invited to D.C. to make a decision on the FRTC expansion; however, they should not have made a decision without their tribal membership at each tribe. There are tribal members at the Walker River that are dissatisfied and tribal members here at the Fallon Tribe that are dissatisfied with this deal that was made in D.C.”
“That’s not unique to the tribes,” said Chairman Pete Olsen, “there are people here in our community who want no part of it.” He explained that Chairman Cathi Tuni rode with him when they took the Undersecretary of the Department of the Interior, Tommy Beaudreau on a tour of the community. “She rode with me for eight hours and we took him to the top of Fairview and across the Stillwaters, we wanted everyone to have the same opportunity to see the same things and talk to the undersecretary just like we did.”
Commissioner Bus Scharmann said, “Our intent is to work closely with the Tribe, and we want that to continue.”
The language of the bill and a larger version of the map along with a legend can be found in the agenda packet at churchillconv.portal.civicclerk.com/event/3005/files
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